Celebrating 250 years of America! Trump plans to pardon 250 people, will the founders of FTX and Tornado be chosen?

U.S. President Trump is reportedly considering a 250-person presidential clemency program, drawing attention from the crypto community. The market is abuzz with discussions about whether developers of privacy-disputed mixing protocols and whether SBF could be included.

Trump proposes a “250-person clemency plan,” and the crypto community closely watches the list

According to a report by The Wall Street Journal, U.S. President Trump is considering pushing a large-scale clemency program during the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States, which is expected to pardon about 250 criminals. After the news was exposed, the cryptocurrency industry also began to discuss it, with people in the crypto industry who have been involved in major cases in recent years wondering whether they might have a chance to be included in the clemency list.

The figures most watched by the market right now include the convicted FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), as well as Tornado Cash founders Roman Storm and Alexey Pertsev, among other parties involved in cases related to privacy protocols. Because Trump has continued to send friendly signals toward the crypto industry over the past year, some supporters have begun to speculate whether the White House might re-examine certain crypto-related cases.

When Trump recently discussed a clemency proposal with his aides, he mentioned a desire to echo the symbolic significance of the United States’ 250th anniversary through “clemency for 250 people,” but the White House has not yet released an official list.

Tornado Cash case continues to unfold, and the crypto community rallies behind developers

Among all the people who could potentially be discussed, the crypto community is paying particular attention to the Tornado Cash-related case. Some crypto supporters believe that the U.S. government’s law enforcement actions against Tornado Cash developers in recent years involve a core question: whether “code is a form of free speech.”

Tornado Cash is a privacy-mixing protocol based on Ethereum. The U.S. Department of the Treasury previously accused North Korea’s Lazarus Group of using the tool to launder money, so it imposed sanctions on the protocol. However, the crypto community and some developers have long criticized that the U.S. government directly equates open-source code development with criminal activity, which could have a chilling effect on the broader open-source software industry.

At present, Tornado Cash co-founder Roman Storm is still facing U.S. judicial proceedings, while a Dutch court has already issued a ruling against another developer, Alexey Pertsev. Many crypto supporters believe that if Trump truly pushes for a large-scale clemency, crypto privacy cases could become a symbolic political issue.

• Related news: Tornado Cash sanctions case ends! U.S. Treasury drops the appeal, and TORN jumps more than 5%

Could SBF be pardoned? The market reacts in two opposite directions

Compared with the Tornado Cash developer case, which carries technical and open-source-related controversy, the situation of FTX founder SBF is considered even more sensitive. SBF was previously convicted on multiple charges, including fraud, misappropriation of customer assets, and financial crimes, and is viewed as one of the most representative financial scandals in the crypto industry.

Some market participants believe that the likelihood of SBF receiving clemency is relatively low, partly because the FTX incident involved a large number of victims and immense political pressure. In particular, the SBF case dealt a serious blow to confidence among U.S. retail investors and institutional investors, and it has also led U.S. regulators to accelerate high-pressure enforcement against the crypto industry.

• Related news: In the face of the FTX scandal, Trump shows no mercy—he says no clemency; SBF’s hopes to overturn the case are officially dashed

However, some supporters also believe that in the past Trump has shown political symbolism through clemency on multiple occasions, and whether he will package some crypto cases as examples of “excessive government regulation” remains open to discussion.

Crypto regulation gradually becomes a focal point in U.S. political back-and-forth

Trump’s attitude toward cryptocurrencies has clearly changed over the past year. In addition to publicly supporting Bitcoin mining and digital-asset innovation, during the campaign he also actively sought crypto-industry funding and support from supporters. Within the Republican Party, attitudes toward cryptocurrencies are also gradually becoming sharply contrasted with those of the Democratic Party.

As the U.S. election draws closer, issues related to the crypto industry are rapidly becoming politicized. Topics such as crypto regulation, privacy tools, and financial freedom are also gradually shifting from being purely technology and finance matters to becoming part of the political back-and-forth in the United States.